Everyone in Southern California seems to think that Long Beach Opera's Akhnaten was the first on the West Coast. It ain't so. Oakland Opera Theater performed
Akhnaten in 2004, with countertenor Paul Flight in the title role.
- Joshua Kosman's Chronicle review is here.
- Photos are here on Paul Flight's web site.
Darryl Taylor did a great job of stepping in vocally for Jochen Kowalski when the latter developed a cold, but I'm willing to bet that Paul Flight would have acted the role as well as sung it. Presumably LBO was not aware that there was a singer in state who'd done the part before.
Long Beach Opera presented the West Coast premiere of the fully orchestrated and staged version of the Glass opera. We were aware of Oakland Opera Theater's reduced production and mentioned it in the Press Release.
ReplyDeleteDoris Koplik, Director of Media Relations, Long Beach Opera